"After the Dance" is a slow jam recorded by singer Marvin Gaye and released as the second single off Gaye's 1976 hit album I Want You. Though it received modest success, the song was widely considered to be one of Gaye's best ballads[1] and served as part of the template for quiet storm and urban contemporary ballads that came afterwards.[2]
Overview
Written by Gaye and his co-producer Leon Ware, the song narrates a moment where the author noticed a woman on Soul Train and convinces her to "get together" after the two shared a dance.[1] Throughout the entire I Want You album, which was dedicated to Marvin's live-in lover Janis Hunter (who wrote a 2015 memoir entitled After the Dance: My Life with Marvin Gaye),[3] the narrator — Gaye — brings up the dance concept in songs such as "Since I Had You".[4][5]
The song also served in a funky instrumental, which included a synthesizer solo performed by Gaye[1][6] just days before the master mix of the I Want You album was due at Motown.[7] The instrumental version received a nomination at the 1977 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Instrumental Song.[8]
Record World praised Gaye's "strong performance" of the song.[9]
The song was Gaye's lowest-peaked pop single for the first time in 13 years since the B-side of his "Can I Get a Witness" titled "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby", peaking at number 74,[10] ironically three places higher than "I'm Crazy 'Bout My Baby", while it was a bigger success on the R&B chart, peaking at number 14.[1][6]
Recording
The basic track of "After the Dance" was recorded for Gaye with the working title "Don't You Wanna Come?" in September 1975.[6]
The overdubbing sessions took place between January 1976 to March 1976.[6][7]
Covers
The song has since been covered by a legion of jazz vocalists and groups including Fourplay, who covered it with longtime Gaye admirer, R&B singer El DeBarge, in 1991.[11] Their version was released as a single that year and re-introduced newer listeners to Gaye's original.[12]
Lead, background vocals, piano and synthesizer by Marvin Gaye
Instrumentation by various studio musicians, some of which include, drummer James Gadson and flutist Ernie Watts (featured on the instrumental version)
^Singleton, Mya (October 7, 2022). "25 songs with 'dance' in the title". Yardbarker. Retrieved October 20, 2022. The smooth sound of Marvin Gaye's voice is sure to take any listener to another realm. That's the feeling when hearing his 1978 single "After The Dance." Gaye gives listeners the perfect quiet storm vibe on the track, as he details seeing a woman on the dance floor and hoping to "get together after the dance."
